Key Thinkers of the Radical Right
Page 43
forge relationships and ways of living that embody their principles. This
involves some efforts to make its communities economically and finan-
cially self- reliant. The Wolves has little or no interest in political activism
in the conventional sense.48
Conclusion
Through his writings, his organizational activities, and most recently his
aggressive use of his own physical image, Jack Donovan has contributed
an important strand to right- wing politics. His doctrine of male tribalism
evokes powerful themes of violence and community, of embracing and
overcoming danger, of reaffirming manhood and restoring it to domi-
nance. Male tribalism offers a critique of the status quo and a vision of
the future that is just as sweeping and systematic as the Christian Right’s
gender ideology, and that is complementary to white nationalism but not
dependent on it.
Donovan’s work is part of a long- term rightist backlash against the
rise of feminism. In the past, many rightists accommodated elements of
feminist politics within a patriarchal framework to help them mobilize
women, but Donovan, the Alt Right, and the manosphere embody a re-
cent, harsher trend to vilify women’s political agency or exclude them alto-
gether. This has been coupled with moves among some rightist networks
to accept or even welcome homosexual men, and to emphasize secular
and pagan ideologies over Christianity. All of these trends echo elements
of classical fascism, and they illustrate the capacity of the Right’s new
thinkers to rework old political themes in creative ways.
Notes
1. Jack Donovan, “The Tribal Mind” (video), speech at National Policy Institute
Conference, October 31, 2015, YouTube, https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=
TNrsXtQWRJM.
2. Some passages in this chapter appear in different form in Insurgent Supremacists: The
U. S. Far Right’s Challenge to State and Empire (Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2018);
“Ctrl- Alt- Delete: The Origins and Ideology of the Alternative Right,” Political
Research Associates, January 20, 2017, http:// www.politicalresearch.org/ 2017/
01/ 20/ ctrl- alt- delete- report- on- the- alternative- right/ #sthash.59B4l69h.1JRopEJI.
dpbs; or “Jack Donovan on Men: A Masculine Tribalism for the Far Right,” Three
25
Jack Donovan and Male Tribalism
255
Way Fight (blog), November 23, 2015, http:// threewayfight.blogspot.com/ 2015/
11/ jack- donovan- on- men- masculine- tribalism.html.
3. “About Jack Donovan,” Jack Donovan (website), archived May 10, 2011, https://
web.archive.org/ web/ 20110510212918/ http:// www.jack- donovan.com:80/ axis/
bio/ .
4. See bibliography for a list of Donovan’s books.
5. Chip Smith, “The First Rule of Androphilia: An Interview with Jack Malebranche,”
The Hoover Hog, January 2009.
6. Jack Donovan, “A Time for Wolves,” Jack Donovan, June 14, 2014, http:// www.
jack- donovan.com/ axis/ 2014/ 06/ a- time- for- wolves/ ; “The Wolves of Vinland: A Fascist Countercultural ‘Tribe’ in the Pacific Northwest,” Rose City Antifa,
November 7, 2016, http:// rosecityantifa.org/ articles/ the- wolves- of- vinland- a-
fascist- countercultural- tribe- in- the- pacific- northwest/ .
7. Smith, “First Rule of Androphilia.”
8. Jack Donovan, The Way of Men (Milwaukie, OR: Dissonant Hum, 2012), 3.
9. Ibid., 19.
10. Ibid., 139.
11. Ibid., 138.
12. Jack Donovan, “No Man’s Land: Masculinity Maligned, Reimagined,” Jack
Donovan, 2011, http:// www.jack- donovan.com/ axis/ no- mans- land/ .
13. Jack Donovan, “The Brotherhood,” A Sky Without Eagles (Milwaukie,
OR: Dissonant Hum, 2014), 153– 167; quotations are from pages 161, 162,
and 158.
14. Ibid., 156.
15. Ibid.,166– 167.
16. Jef Costello, review of A Sky Without Eagles by Jack Donovan, Counter- Currents,
July 2014, http:// www.counter- currents.com/ 2014/ 07/ jack- donovans- a- sky-
without- eagles/ .
17. Jack Donovan, “A Tribe Among the Trees: Ernst Jünger’s The Forest Passage,”
Counter- Currents, June 30, 2014, https:// www.counter- currents.com/ 2014/ 06/
a- tribe- among- the- trees/ .
18. Alain de Benoist and Charles Champetier, “Manifesto of the French New
Right in Year 2000,” New European Conservative (website), undated, https://
neweuropeanconservative.files.wordpress.com/ 2012/ 10/ manifesto- of- the-
french- new- right1.pdf; Donovan, “The Moral Gear Shift,” in Becoming a Barbarian.
19. Jack Donovan, “Paleofuturism for the Man; Archeofuturism for the People,”
Counter- Currents, November 2013, https:// www.counter- currents.com/ 2013/
11/ paleofuturism- for- the- man- archeofuturism- for- the- people/ .
20. F. T. Marinetti, “The Futurist Manifesto” (1909), in Three Intellectuals in Politics,
by James Joll (New York: Pantheon Books, 1960), 182.
25
6
256
E M E R G E N T T H I N K E R S
21. Jack Donovan, “Anarcho- Fascism,” Jack Donovan, March 3, 2013, archived
March 31, 2017, at https:// web.archive.org/ web/ 20170331060008/ http:// www.
jack- donovan.com/ axis/ 2013/ 03/ anarcho- fascism/ .
22. Jack Donovan, “The Empire of Nothing” and “The Mother of Exiles,” in Becoming
a Barbarian.
23. Jack Donovan, “Becoming the New Barbarians,” Radix, December 23, 2013,
archived February 9, 2014, at https:// web.archive.org/ web/ 20140209144417/
http:// www.radixjournal.com/ journal/ becoming- the- new- barbarians.
24. Jack Donovan, “The Bright Side of Illegal Immigration,” Jack Donovan,
November 13, 2012, archived November 15, 2012, at https:// web.archive.org/
web/ 20121115235941/ http:// www.jack- donovan.com:80/ axis/ 2012/ 11/ the-
bright- side- of- illegal- immigration/ .
25. Donovan, “Becoming the New Barbarians.”
26. Donovan, Way of Men, 165, 158.
27. Jack Donovan, “Long Live the Manosphere,” Jack Donovan, September 9, 2012,
archived June 17, 2013, at https:// web.archive.org/ web/ 20130617174230/ http://
www.jack- donovan.com/ axis/ 2012/ 09/ long- live- the- manosphere/ .
28.
On Gamergate, see Amanda Marcotte, “Gaming Misogyny Gets
Infinite Lives,” Daily Beast, August 22, 2014, http:// www.thedailybeast.
com/ gaming- misogyny- gets- infinite- lives- zoe- quinn- virtual- rape- and-
sexism; Stephen Totilo, “Another Woman in Gaming Flees Home Following Death Threats,” Kotaku, October 11, 2014, http:// kotaku.com/
another- woman- in- gaming- flees- home- following- death- thre- 1645280338.
29. Keyword searches for “Jack Donovan” performed on The Anti- Feminist (http://
theantifeminist.com), Chateau Heartiste (https:// heartiste.wordpress.com/ ),
The Counter- Feminist (http:// counterfem.blogspot.com/ ), and Vox Popoli (http://
voxday.blogspot.com/ ) returned no results.
30. Roosh V [Daryush Valizadeh], Comment on “Jack Donovan” thread, Roosh V
Forum, November 16, 2012, https:// www.rooshvforum.com/ thread- 17870.html;
Paul Elam, “What the Fuck is Wrong with Jack Donovan?” A Voice for Men,
January 20, 2
011, https:// www.avoiceformen.com/ miscellaneous/ what- the-
fuck- is- wrong- with- jack- donovan/ .
31. Donovan, Way of Men, 169– 170.
32. Quoted in Matthew N. Lyons, “AlternativeRight.com: Paleoconservatism for
the 21st Century,” Three Way Fight, September 10, 2010, http:// threewayfight.
blogspot.com/ 2010/ 09/ alternativerightcom- paleoconservatism.html.
33. Matt Parrott, “Where the White Women At,” Traditionalist Worker Party
(website), April 13, 2015, https:// www.tradworker.org/ 2015/ 04/ where- the-
white- women- at/ ; Danielle Paquette, “The Alt- Right Isn’t Only about White Supremacy. It’s about White Male Supremacy.” Chicago Tribune, November
25, 2016, https:// www.washingtonpost.com/ news/ wonk/ wp/ 2016/ 11/ 25/
257
Jack Donovan and Male Tribalism
257
the- alt- right- isnt- just- about- white- supremacy- its- about- white- male- supremacy/
?utm_ term=.273dff8917cb.
34. “Pseudomen in White Nationalism,” West’s Darkest Hour (blog), March 26, 2012,
https:// chechar.wordpress.com/ 2012/ 03/ 26/ pseudo- men- in- white- nationalism/ ; Ari Feldman, “Can The ‘Alt- Right’ Distance Itself from Neo- Nazis?” Forward,
August 31, 2016, http:// forward.com/ news/ national/ 348366/ can- the- alt- right-
distance- itself- from- neo- nazis/ .
35. Greg Johnson, “Homosexuality and White Nationalism,” Counter- Currents,
October 2010, https:// www.counter- currents.com/ 2010/ 10/ homosexuality- and-
white- nationalism/ ; “The Homo & the Negro: Masculinist Meditations on Politics and Popular Culture, by James O’Meara” (book notice), Counter- Currents, 2012,
https:// www.counter- currents.com/ the- homo- and- the- negro/ ; “A Chorus of Violence: Jack Donovan and the Organizing Power of Male Supremacy,” Southern
Poverty Law Center, March 27, 2017, https:// www.splcenter.org/ hatewatch/
2017/ 03/ 27/ chorus- violence- jack- donovan- and- organizing- power- male-
supremacy; Hunter Wallace [Brad Griffin], “Review: 2014 American Renaissance Conference,” Occidental Dissent, April 28, 2014, http:// www.occidentaldissent.
com/ 2014/ 04/ 28/ review- 2014- american- renaissance- conference/ .
36. Jack Donovan, “No One Will Ever Make America Great Again.” Jack Donovan,
July 7, 2016, http:// www.jack- donovan.com/ axis/ 2016/ 07/ no- one- will- ever- make-
america- great- again/ ; on the Alt right’s responses to Donald Trump, see Lyons,
“Ctrl- Alt- Delete.”
37. Jack Donovan, “Mighty White,” Jack Donovan, December 18, 2011, http:// www.
jack- donovan.com/ axis/ 2011/ 12/ mighty- white/ .
38. Jack Donovan, “Why I Am Not a White Nationalist,” Jack Donovan, May 31, 2017
(updated August 19, 2017), https:// www.jack- donovan.com/ axis/ 2017/ 05/ why- i-
am- not- a- white- nationalist/ .
39. Greg Johnson, “A Reply to Jack Donovan,” Counter- Currents, June 2017, https://
www.counter- currents.com/ 2017/ 06/ a- reply- to- jack- donovan/ .
40. Donovan, “Why I Am Not a White Nationalist”; Richard Spencer, “What It
Means To Be Alt- Right,” AltRight.com, August 11, 2017, https:// altright.com/
2017/ 08/ 11/ what- it- means- to- be- alt- right/ .
41. Donovan, “Time for Wolves.”
42. Maureen O’Connor, “The Philosophical Fascists of the Gay Alt- Right,” The Cut,
April 30, 2017, https:// www.thecut.com/ 2017/ 04/ jack- donovan- philosophical-
fascists- of- the- gay- alt- right.html.
43. “The Wolves of Vinland.”
44. “Greg Johnson Interviews Paul Waggener,” Counter - Currents, February 2016,
https:// www.counter- currents.com/ 2016/ 02/ greg- johnson- interviews- paul-
waggener- 2/ .
45. Donovan, “Time for Wolves.”
258
258
E M E R G E N T T H I N K E R S
46. “Greg Johnson Interviews Paul Waggener.”
47. “Wolves of Vinland.” See also the Operation Werewolf website at http:// www.
operationwerewolf.com/ and the Jack Donovan website at http:// www.jack-
donovan.com/ axis/ , as well as Jack Donovan’s author page on Facebook at
https:// www.facebook.com/ author.jack.donovan/ .
48. “Greg Johnson interviews Paul Waggener.”
25
9
16
Daniel Friberg and Metapolitics
in Action
Benjamin Teitelbaum
D A N I E L F R I B E R G S P E N T most of his early career as a background figure
in European white nationalism. If you study an anti- immigrant political
party, militant organization, think tank, retail outlet, or festival in 1990s
and early 2000s Sweden you are likely to find his hand in it, and projects
for which he was centrally responsible later became mainstays for rad-
ical rightists throughout the globe. Then, as Brexit and the rise of Donald
Trump focused global media attention on the Right, Friberg emerged
as one of its international faces. His name began appearing in North
American and European white nationalist media like Counter- Currents
and American Renaissance, and he was profiled in mainstream outlets in
his native Sweden as well as in international publications like International
Business Times, Buzzfeed, and the Wall Street Journal. The coverage came
not because of any sensational act or statement on his part, but instead
due to his slow- moving, steady, and effective efforts to promote antiliberal
culture and intellectualism. He had assembled a media, literature, and
music empire whose expansion seemed exponential, always with the goal
of cultivating a new generation of rightists with tools to challenge the Left
at the level of ideas. The content of those ideas varied throughout Friberg’s
career and across his initiatives: for him it is method, rather than ideology,
that matters most.
And it has been a particular type of method, one called “metapolitics.”
The method figured into the activism of many Western antiliberals during
the early twenty- first century, and for that reason it has been mentioned
2
6
0
260
E M E R G E N T T H I N K E R S
frequently throughout this book. Defined by Guillaume Faye as the “social
diffusion of ideas and cultural values for the sake of provoking profound,
long- term, political transformation,”1 metapolitical campaigning diverges
from standard activist dualisms of party politics versus militancy. It is
based on the assumption that meaningful political change originates in
education, media, and creative expression; parliamentary or revolutionary
initiatives succeed only when they build upon existing cultural sympathies
forged in those arenas. Though rooted in the thinking of neo- Marxist
Antonio Gramsci, metapolitics as a theorized concept entered the radical
Right via the French New Right.2 Daniel Friberg, however, emerged as its
foremost strategist and implementer.
This chapter traces Friberg’s life, thought, and activism. It investigates
a plurality of initiatives and projects rather than a single opus.
Metapolitical activism typically strives to saturate multiple discursive
arenas, subcultures, and expressive forms with its radical message, and,
following that logic, Friberg’s work cannot be jus
tifiably localized to any
one format or product. I trace in broadly chronological order his creation
of magazines and newspapers; literature and music production firms; on-
line communities; blog and media portals; annual seminars and festivals;
online encyclopedias; and his own authored literature. To help make sense
of these projects and to gain a broader view of their trajectory and signif-
icance, I highlight those instances where Friberg describes his broader
strategy. Seldom have those statements come in formal settings: as he
told me once, “metapolitics works best when people don’t know you’re
shaping the way they think.”3 Instead, I find this material in interviews
he held with journalists and colleagues, as well as with me. And we have
spoken often. I have followed Friberg’s career since I began conducting
ethnographic research on Nordic nationalists in 2010, and have come to
know and enjoy him personally— and this despite major differences be-
tween us.4 I have dined, drunk, and lived with him. Such contact can be
corrupting; it may make it less likely that I provide a dispassionate account
of the person, if not the career. But it also provides me uncommon access
to his criticisms and reflections, which in turn add a dialogic element to
my account— a feature I welcome as a contrast with the often reflexively
monophonic nature of commentary on the radical Right.
Although this chapter discusses the actions of an individual, Friberg’s
story is in embryo that of the Western radical Right at the turn of the
twenty- first century. In his journey we find the transition away from a cul-
tural model based on skinheadism, the strengthening of digital activism,
261
Daniel Friberg and Metapolitics in Action
261
the diffusion of French New Right concepts and methods, and the emer-
gence of a new topography in which activists organize themselves based
more on medium, forum, and tactic than ideology. But in order to under-
stand Friberg’s career and how it relates to the broader radical Right, we
must first explore the practice of metapolitics and the ways it has been
conceived and implemented as activism.
Metapolitics
The emergence of metapolitics as a named, self- conscious practice within